Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.12.12
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesBind the Heart to Kṛṣṇa
“My dear Uddhava, just as great sages in yoga trance merge into self-realization, like rivers merging into the ocean, and are thus not aware of material names and forms, similarly, the gopīs of Vṛndāvana were so completely attached to Me within their minds that they could not think of their own bodies, or of this world, or of their future lives. Their entire consciousness was simply bound up in Me.”
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs’ entire consciousness was bound up in Kṛṣṇa. Their own bodies seemed distant because they were so completely absorbed in love for Him.
- Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of everything, and the gopīs are His own potency. Concentrating all love on Him is therefore neither ignorance nor small-mindedness.
- The comparison with sages in samādhi illustrates only exclusive concentration; it does not equate their meditation with the gopīs’ ecstatic love. Sincere devotees should remove whatever impedes their progress toward Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Put aside one distraction during a short period of devotional service today.
Ask yourself
What distraction most often interrupts my attention to Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.